The prepaid Visa card the kid had demanded from Alice was long empty, appearing filled with cash long enough for him to think the money—one freakin’ million dollars—was there before it drained out. With his face calm and emotionless, Carter let him know that fact too.
“What? You—you can’t do that!” More terrified by the loss of the money he’d stolen from Alice, he grabbed his phone, swiped and tapped the screen a few times. Carter gave him a couple of seconds to check his accounts and verify that Carter Diallo didn’t make threats. Only promises.
Frantic eyes grew wider when he saw what was on the screen. “Please! I swear, I didn’t mean anything by it.” The phone dropped to the wrinkled sheets that smelled of sweat. Yelling and pleading, the boy grabbed for Carter’s suit jacket but Carter stepped neatly back, avoiding his hands.
He was big, but fast when it counted.
“Yes, you’re wiped out,” Carter said. “You can move in with your mama, get a job at a fast food joint. Whatever it is, you better not try this aga—”
Just then his phone rang. It was a particular ring tone. Each of his siblings and parents had their own. It was Kingsley, his oldest brother and CEO of the Diallo Corporation calling.
“Carter,” he answered although his brother obviously knew who he’d dialed.
Or at least he hoped he did. The last thing he wanted was to get another naked-butt dial from his brother who was crazy in love—and lust—with his fiancée and bride-to-be, Adah.
Kingsley, a former member of the workaholics club except when he escaped to Aruba once a year to windsurf or whatever, was making it work with Adah. She lived in Atlanta and already had a business of her own there. Nothing she could easily relocate to Miami. At least not according to Kingsley. But Carter could clearly see the solution to that “problem.”
“We have a situation,” Kingsley said. “How soon can you get back to Miami?”
“That sounds serious.”
“With the pending IPO, everything is serious now.”
“Right.” The decision to go public with their family’s multibillion-dollar beauty corporation wasn’t one that all the involved siblings and board members were crazy about, Carter included. But it was what most of them wanted so he’d gotten on board. “What’s the problem?”
Turned out that their brother Jaxon, a local Miami celebrity and member of the corporation’s board of directors, had gotten into trouble. Again. Normally it would be nothing but a blip in the Miami papers, another way for their notorious brother to impress women and get more of them into bed. But—and this was a big but that Carter didn’t agree with and was only going along with to keep the family peace—with the pending IPO, the public scrutiny from Jaxon’s increasingly stupid antics could bring ruin to the company’s stock as soon as it was offered.
Carter grunted. “That damn kid...” Jaxon was eleven years younger than him.
“Yeah. I keep telling Mom to ship him off someplace—”
“Right. Like anyplace could keep him secure, much less out of trouble.”
“Like I was saying...” Then Kingsley laughed, rueful and irritated at the same time. “...she basically told me the same thing you did. And I agree.” They’d all like for that not to be the case, but Jaxon was his own brand of stubborn. And reckless.
“We’ll deal with it. Just tell me the rest.”
While his brother filled his ear with the latest problem he had to deal with as the company’s “fixer,” he brought up his messenger app and let his assistant know he needed an earlier flight back to Miami. By the time he had all the details of the latest Diallo disaster, he had a plane ticket already downloaded to his phone.
He’d already checked out of his hotel, figuring it would be easier to take care of business first before heading back to the Las Vegas airport.
“All right, I’ll jump on the first available flight and meet you in the office.” He shrugged back the sleeve of his suit jacket to glance at his watch. It was almost six. “My assistant will let you know my ETA.”
“All right, sounds good.” Kingsley sounded relieved.
“You just gonna stand in my hotel room all day?” the kid interrupted. The fear was leaching fast out of his little rodent-like face.
Carter knew just how to fix that. “The room is all paid up until tomorrow. But I had the receipt mailed to your house so you can know just how much you owe the Diallo family.” That’s right, kid. I know where you live. Carter tipped his head to the boy who was now visibly trembling. “Enjoy the pool here. It’s no Ritz but the water is nice and warm.”
He opened the door.
“Don’t hang around this place too long, Trey,” Carter said.
Then he closed the door behind him and headed down the stairs to the rental Benz he’d left in the nearby parking lot.
* * *
On the way to the airport in the car, he read the email Kingsley sent him about his brother’s latest mess. And damn, it was a big one.
He sent Kingsley a quick message:
Not sure this is something I can handle but I’ll have some ideas by the time I get there.
At the airport, he quickly made his way through the line and to his first-class seat. Ignoring the woman dressed in head-to-toe Balmain trying to get his attention with idle chatter, he scoured his brain for solutions his brother and the rest of the family could work with.
When the woman angled her immense cleavage toward him, he got an idea, reached for his phone and sent Kingsley a message.
This looks beyond my scope. If I fix this the way I want, things might backfire and blow back on the business. A buddy of mine used a firm in Cali for something similar a while back. The work was good and discreet. Here is the info to consider.
He sent the name of the firm plus his contact there just in time for the final warning from the flight attendant. He gave her his most charming smile and sat back to be a good boy.
“That’s a gorgeous watch you’re wearing.” The woman reactivated her flirtation and stroked her long fingers along the armrest. A breath of air from the wake of her hand gave the unpleasant illusion that she’d touched him.
But he kept his hand right where it was.
“Thanks,” he said. “It was a gift.”
She raised a thoughtful eyebrow, obviously reevaluating him. The Tom Ford suit. Meticulous manicure. And of course, the Vacheron Constantin watch.
A faint smile twitched the corner of his mouth. He imagined that in her mind, he just went from rich boyfriend, husband or Mile High Club prospect to kept man. Or boy toy. It didn’t matter what she thought, though. He wasn’t interested in her right now.
Normally, he’d give maybe a tenth of his attention to flirting with a woman like her. From the faded ring-finger tan line, he could tell she was divorced. Obviously on the hunt for a new lover or husband. The sex would probably be good. Uninhibited. Maybe even a little bit kinky.
But Carter was still in work mode. Not even an impressive set of newly divorced...assets could pull his attention from where it needed to be. He’d always been a “business before pleasure” kind of guy. Even when the pleasure promised to be very pleasurable indeed.
“Whoever gave the watch to you has good taste,” the woman said, her voice trailing off as obviously as her interest in Carter. No boy toy for her, then.
“Thanks.” He tipped his head her way.
He wasn’t like Kingsley, Jaxon or any of his brothers who had the kind of looks that made women stop in their tracks then offer up their life savings for a night or two between the sheets.
No, he wasn’t as handsome as his brothers. He was, however, big and intimidating. And he was smart. The one who put his native skill set and law degree to good use to keep the family successful and thriving.
Yes, if he’d been one of his brothers, the woman would’ve probably still kept trying to get into his pants, fig
uring that although there was no money, being close to beauty like theirs for even a short time was worth any effort. But he wasn’t one of the pretty ones, and that was okay.
With the woman suddenly intent on getting more champagne from the flight attendant, Carter settled down to enjoy the ride. He turned to face the window with its view of the clouds and, far away, another passenger plane flying at a lower altitude. His eyelids grew heavy. Then a familiar dream took him.
* * *
Birds chirped loud and cheerful outside his fifth-floor window and sunlight flooded into his single college room. The hard lines of a wooden chair pressed along his back, butt and thighs, and in front of him on the desk sat his half-finished homework.
Why hadn’t he finished his homework yet? Class was in just a few hours.
While vague thoughts of getting back to the homework floated through his mind, his room door burst open. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen rushed through it.
Jade Tremaine. She looked like the sweet girl next door. Permed hair down to the middle of her back, a gorgeous face completely free of makeup. Her body, slender yet curvy, had a thick booty that usually starred in his juicier fantasies.
“Carter!” She was crying.
“Jade, baby, what’s wrong?”
The sadness on her face carved a hole straight through Carter. If she let him, he would move the world to get rid of her tears. Her smiles made him happy. Her laughter made him laugh too. Everyone around them noticed Carter’s obsession and assumed they were more than friends. But Jade already had a boyfriend, and she wasn’t a cheater.
“Carter!” Jade fell into his arms, still sobbing.
This was a dream. After more than ten years of living with it, Carter knew every move he would make while trapped inside its illusion. And he knew how different it was from the real event that happened between them years ago.
Jade’s slender body heaved against his.
“He cheated on me...” Her voice had wounds in it, large enough for wailing sobs to break through. “I can’t believe it. I really trusted him.”
Anxiety turned him inside out at the sight of her obvious pain. He would do anything to make things right for her. “Tell me,” he practically begged. “Tell me what I can do.”
But Jade kept sobbing on him, the same words falling from her trembling lips again and again.
“Just hold me. Please.” She trembled like a leaf caught in a hurricane. “Carter...” Her body felt cool and delicate against his.
“Please, don’t cry.” His voice sounded hoarse and desperate to his own ears. He needed to make everything okay for her. Carter’s mind was in tatters, nothing like the logic and control that usually ruled his day-to-day life. “I’ll fix whatever you want.”
Slowly, the need to help her became tainted with lust and inconvenient desire. His hands wrapped around her slender arms and her skin felt like silk. “Jade, let me help you.”
“Yes, yes.” And she lifted her mouth toward his.
And with that, Carter knew how to help. His body and his love were what she needed.
Happiness surged in him.
Yes. This he could do.
He pressed his lips to her damp cheek and tasted her tears. A soft whimper left her parted lips and curled around his sex, hardening him. She cried out again and gripped the front of his shirt. Her sharp nails sank into his skin, deep and agonizing, but Carter moved into the pain.
“It’ll be okay,” he said. “I’ll take care of everything.”
“Yes,” she whispered and her breath was like perfume.
They fell into his bed. A California king with sheets that brushed soft as sin against his suddenly naked skin. Carter throbbed with want to protect her and to possess her. Both impulses burned through him and scorched away every piece of reluctance he might have had before.
Her bare skin was a balm to everything that hurt; her kisses tasted of the most sacred of elixirs. With each touch of his hands on her skin, poetic nonsense invaded Carter’s head. He couldn’t think, could only feel.
He should stop. This wasn’t right. This wasn’t what she needed.
But she writhed against him, the most sensual and passionate woman he’d ever been with. “Yes, Carter...” Her tight body welcomed him. “Yes. Love me. Make everything else go away.”
Yes. God, yes.
Jade panted into his open mouth. Her legs wrapped around his waist.
Her agonized sobs turned into cries of pleasure. She moaned his name. “You’re perfect...Carter. So perfect.” Her hand settled on his chest, over his heart, as they moved together. She threw her head back, baring her long throat. A smile curved her lips. “Yes!”
Yes, their pleasure was perfect.
His body moving firm and hot inside her, Carter reached for Jade’s face. But his hand passed through her cheek.
Her smile fell away. “Carter?”
Suddenly, he couldn’t feel her around his sex anymore. He could see her, but couldn’t touch. She kept disappearing, piece after piece. “No!” she sobbed out.
“Jade!”
As she disappeared around him, Carter’d never felt so helpless in his life.
He screamed out his frustration, grabbing desperately for her but his hand passed through her body again and again. He was losing everything.
Jade’s sobs got louder. She trembled like she was ready to fall apart, but Carter couldn’t touch her, couldn’t comfort her anymore.
“Jade! Stay!”
But she didn’t. Her body faded away until only her sobs lingered in the air, ripping into his ears like knives.
* * *
The jolt of the plane hitting the runway yanked Carter from the dream.
He hissed and jerked upright, opened his eyes in time to see the woman next to him give him a faintly worried glance. The pain faded. Sound drained away. But his body remained on edge and faintly aroused.
Just like always.
Ten years of having the dream and it was still as powerful as ever. The panic and regret that came with it were things he could happily live without. But he didn’t know how to get rid of the dream, or those feelings.
A deep breath in. A deep breath out.
Okay. Enough of this. His body still felt heavy and in need of sleep, but that was too bad. He had work to do.
Carter’s phone vibrated when he turned it on. A single message from Kingsley had come in during the five-hour flight.
Got in touch with the firm you suggested. We got lucky they took our call outside office hours. Their chief strategist will be in my office when you get here.
His brother didn’t waste any time...
Other than that, only one new business emergency had come up. Plus, an update from Kingsley’s fiancée about the engagement party the whole family was expected to attend. He sent his assistant the details so she could keep him on track.
As soon as the aircraft door opened and he was free to go, Carter nodded to his neighbor and left with his single piece of carry-on luggage. The patience to wait for bags to arrive at the luggage carousal just wasn’t in him. Not to mention, he wasn’t often anywhere long enough to need more than a change of clothes, his laptop and cell phone.
He wound his way through the airport to the curbside. A scant three minutes later, a black town car pulled up and the driver slid down the passenger-side window.
“Mr. Diallo?”
He nodded and barely moved toward the car before the driver leaped out, a woman in a crisp dark uniform, and opened the door for him.
“Thank you,” he said, but she was already back in the driver’s seat and pulling away from the curb.
During the drive, he checked his messages again. His assistant, who was worth her weight in gold and rubies, scheduled the meeting with Kingsley in the early afternoon. This gave Carter enough time to h
ead home, shower, change and take care of some urgent business for his own firm. The situation with Jaxon was urgent but no one was about to keel over.
While he took care of these basic things, the chauffeur waited.
They made good time to the office and Carter offered the woman a tip, which she respectfully refused before driving away from the thirty-story Miami high-rise that housed the Diallo Corporation and a few other interests the family owned.
When he walked into the building, it felt like home. More so than the three-thousand-square-foot house he’d recently bought on Hibiscus Island.
He’d been coming to the building since he was a kid, always eager to see what magical things the lab came up with or find out firsthand what kept his parents away from home so much. Now that he knew the ins and outs of the business that kept five of the thirteen Diallo siblings employed, he half wished he hadn’t been so eager to throw his childhood away just to satisfy his curiosity.
His parents had taken that curiosity for interest in running the family business, and once it had been established that he had no interest in arm wrestling the title and pain in the butt of being CEO away from Kingsley, they’d slotted him into the next best or possibly worst job. Company fixer aka CSO, chief security officer. A title he was convinced they’d made up.
It didn’t matter to them that he already had his own security firm, his own employees. They were Jamaican. For them, it was perfectly normal, even expected, to have more than one job.
The elevator doors chimed and slid open.
Carter took it to the top floor and walked into his brother’s office after knocking once and waiting a few seconds past the “Come in.” He’d accidentally barged into enough sex-at-the-office scenarios by various members of his family with their significant others to last him a lifetime.
“You work fast, Kingsley.” He closed the door behind him with a click.
God, he was tired. But sleep would have to wait.
“We don’t have time to waste.” Kingsley greeted Carter with a grin despite the seriousness of what they needed to discuss. After a few quick keystrokes, Kingsley stood up and hugged Carter, gave him the manly slap on the back.
A Los Angeles Passion Page 18
